A large number of Palestinian public schools operate under the auspices of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the only separate refugee agency ever set up by the UN for any refugee population (even though the Palestinians are not the largest refugee population in modern history).

UNRWA, primarily funded by the US and EU, spends roughly $500 million per year on Palestinian schools, and it employs over 10,000 local teachers. However, UNRWA does not produce texbooks for these schools, but rather lets the PLO-run Palestinian Authority use Western dollars and euros to teach whatever they deem appropriate.